MINNEAPOLIS--(BUSINESS WIRE)--More than six years have passed since the market crash of 2008, and a
significant number of both Gen Xers and baby boomers say that they’re
still reeling from the effects today, according to Generations
ApartSM* – a new study from Allianz Life Insurance
Company of North America (Allianz Life®) on how baby boomers
and Generation X are facing their financial future. When asked about the
crash, more than two-thirds (67%) of Gen X and boomer respondents said
they still feel the impact in how they live, work, save, and spend.

Yet, the effects of the crash have been even more profound for a
distinct segment of respondents identified as “post-crash skeptics.”
This group appears to suffer from a significant psychological impact on
their financial attitudes and behaviors, including lost confidence in
financial institutions and a switch to more conservative investments. An
overwhelming 93% of post-crash skeptics – which includes a cross-section
of Gen Xers and boomers who experienced six or more major effects of the
crash – said the 2008 crash still haunts them today. Accordingly, more
than nine in 10 (93%) believe that the traditional definition of
retirement is now a “romantic fantasy of the past” (versus 84% of the
total respondents).

Allianz Life’s study of 2,000 Americans – including 1,000 baby boomers
(ages 49-67) and 1,000 Gen Xers (ages 35-48) – asked a series of 13
questions about possible experiences from the 2008 market crash,
including whether their home or 401(k) went down in value, whether they
or a family member lost a job, and whether their savings and/or
retirement planning were affected. One in five (20%) of all respondents
indicated they experienced six or more of these events, identifying them
as post-crash skeptics.

Although a majority of both Gen Xers and boomers (58%) said the crash
had fundamentally made them more cautious and altered their thinking
about risk and investments, the impact on post-crash skeptics was even
greater. A full 83% of post-crash skeptics said the crash made them more
cautious in their financial strategy – a fact that may adversely impact
their ability to effectively save for retirement.

“Generations Apart has yielded some compelling differences between the
way Gen Xers and baby boomers view their finances, but the emergence of
post-crash skeptics from both generations experiencing the same sense of
skepticism and lower confidence about their financial future was
eye-opening,” said Katie Libbe, Allianz Life vice president of Consumer
Insights. “It’s important for the financial services industry to
recognize this group and consider strategies for helping them move past
the barriers and biases resulting from 2008, prompting them to take a
more active role in financial planning.”

Significant Loss of Confidence

One of the most poignant effects reported by the post-crash skeptics was
a loss of confidence in financial institutions, with more than
three-quarters (77%) of this group expressing this opinion versus only
38% of the total respondents. In addition, the crash altered the way
post-crash skeptics view the market and their investment strategy. More
than two-thirds of post-crash skeptics (67%) said they changed their
view of the market to risky (versus 32% of the total respondents) and
43% said they switched to more conservative investing or financial
products (versus 22% of the total respondents).

Perhaps more significant was the reported behavioral differences in
post-crash skeptics compared to the total group of Gen X and boomer
respondents. Half of the post-crash skeptics reported taking on more
debt after the crash (compared to 23% of the total respondents) and 41%
reported that they or a partner had lost a job – almost three times as
many as the total respondents (15%). Of even greater concern, 41% of
post-crash skeptics said they’d stopped saving for retirement since the
crash – more than three times that of Gen Xers and boomers as a group.

As a likely result of these actions, post-crash skeptics have a much
more pessimistic view of their chances for a successful retirement with
more than half (52%) saying they don’t believe they’ll have the
lifestyle they want in retirement (versus only 39% of the total group).

“If these post-crash skeptics have been sitting on the sidelines since
2008, it may be time for them to get more engaged with their finances,”
added Libbe. “Although investing in retirement can be daunting, the
longer people refuse to address the challenges, the more difficult it
will become to ensure they have adequate income for retirement – and
their lifestyle will ultimately suffer.”

More from the Generations Apart Study

For more information about the Allianz Generations Apart Study,
including how each generation feels about their prospects for a
comfortable retirement, visit www.generationsapart.com.
In the coming months, Allianz Life will release additional data from the
Generations Apart Study. Topics will include, among others:

Dealing with the retirement crisis – examining attitudes and opinions
about retirement income and the best ways to address the challenge.

New preferences for financial planning – exploring the different
expectations boomers and Gen Xers have when it comes to getting help
with financial planning.

About Allianz Life Insurance Company of North
America

Allianz
Life Insurance Company of North America, one of FORTUNE’s 100 Best
Companies to Work For in 2015, has been keeping its promises since 1896.
Today, it carries on that tradition, helping Americans achieve their
retirement income and protection goals with a variety of annuities and
life insurance products. As a leading provider of fixed index annuities,
Allianz Life is part of Allianz SE, a global leader in the financial
services industry with 147,000 employees worldwide. More than 85 million
private and corporate customers rely on Allianz knowledge, global reach,
and capital strength to help them make the most of financial
opportunities.

*The Allianz Generations Apart Study was conducted by Larson Research +
Strategy via online interviews in November 2014 with 2,000 U.S. adults
ages 35-67 with a minimum household income of $30K+, and was
commissioned by Allianz Life.